Tuesday, March 10, 2009

As if they weren't worried already

“I haven't trusted polls since I read that 62% of women had affairs during their lunch hour. I've never met a woman in my life who would give up lunch for sex.” - Erma Bombeck

Restaurant owners around the countryare sweating it out hoping Erma is wrong, or at least that today's poll on CNN that asked what would you give up first to save money. Asked to choose between car, cable service, dining out, cell phone, or nothing, the runaway winner at 70% is dining out, followed a long way back by cable service at 17%. I saw this tidbit on the Serious Eats blog, and yes dining out is the easiest thing to give up among the choices offered, but still it has to give restaurant owners another reason to be nervous. As if they didn't have reason enough already. I for one will be dining out tonight. Won't you join me to fight the zeitgeist??

The economy hasn't been good to me, so I'm selling everything - everything but my dutch oven, microplane, and chef's knife. The car, cell phone, and cable are all going. But I'm still eating in and dining out very well. Priorities are in place.